The first compliance date for new, controversial federal Hours of Service regulations came and went on Feb. 27. While most of the rules affect property-carrying drivers, the amendments that affect passenger-carrying drivers are the change to the definition of “on-duty.”
J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc., which assists transportation companies in complying with new regulations, explains that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration allows time spent by these drivers, including school bus drivers, to rest in a parked commercial motor vehicle and still be considered off duty. The new HOS rule also changes the penalties provision, which categorizes as “egregious” any violation of the driving-time limit by three or more hours.
On average, the new HOS rules reduce allowable, weekly work hours of commercial drivers by 15 percent, to about 70 hours from 82 hours. The American Trucking Associations has filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that asks for a legal review.
“The rules that have been in place since 2004 have contributed to unprecedented improvement in highway safety. The law is clear about what steps FMCSA must undertake to change the rules and we cannot allow this rulemaking, which was fueled by changed assumptions and analyses that do not meet the required legal standards, to remain unchallenged,” said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves.
Meanwhile, FMCSA estimates that the annual costs of the new rules are about $470 million while the benefits of improved driver safety amount to $630 million, a net benefit of $160 million a year.
The next compliance date for truck drivers is June 30, 2013, when short-haul commercial drivers receive mandatory breaks. J.J. Keller notes that drivers will also be prohibited from driving a commercial motor vehicle if it has been more than eight hours since their last break of 30 minutes. Additionally, a 34-hour, off-duty period will reset the 60-hour driving limit in a span of seven days or a 70-hour limit for eight days, if the off-duty period includes two consecutive periods from 1 to 5 a.m. A reset can also only begin if seven days have passed since the start of the last reset period.
